Seven in 10 Americans say Obamacare Will Factor in How They Vote for the U.S. House This Fall

NEW YORK, July 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly seven in 10 Americans (68%) say Obamacare will play a role in deciding how they vote in the U.S. House elections this fall, according to a new Bankrate.com (NYSE: RATE) report. Of the 68% that say Obamacare will factor into their voting decisions, 32% of Americans say they will be more likely to vote Republican and 26% say they are more likely to vote Democrat.

"Perhaps surprisingly, these results indicate that the messy launch of Obamacare won't be as detrimental for Democrats or as much of a slam-dunk for Republicans in future elections as some analysts previously suggested," said Bankrate.com insurance analyst Doug Whiteman.

After the new Congress starts in January 2015, over half of Americans (52%) would like to see them make minor or major changes to the Affordable Care Act. And thirty percent of Americans want the new Congress to repeal Obamacare completely, for a total of 82% who want to change the law in some fashion. Only 12% of Americans want to keep the law exactly as it is now.

More Americans than ever are saying that their health insurance situation is better now than one year ago. In fact, the amount of Americans that indicated improved health insurance situations doubled from August 2013 (when the monthly Health Insurance Pulse surveys began) to June 2014.

"While most Americans don't see Obamacare as a perfect solution, more are willing to accept it if a few changes are made," according to Whiteman. "The fact that more Americans are saying their health insurance situation has improved, and fewer want to repeal the law than when we last asked in April, signals a positive turning point for the Affordable Care Act."

Additional Findings:

• 1-in-4 registered independents who identified Obamacare as an election issue say they are likely to vote Republican in the upcoming fall elections, while only 1-in-8 is inclined to vote Democrat.
• 18-29 year olds want Congress to make changes to Obamacare more than any other age group.
• Americans with annual household incomes of $50,000+ are the most likely to say that Obamacare will play a factor in their voting decisions in the fall.

The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International (PSRAI) and can be seen in its entirety here:

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/insurance/health-insurance-poll-0614.aspx

PSRAI obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,003 adults living in the continental United States. Interviews were conducted by landline (501) and cell phone (502, including 277 without a landline phone) in English and Spanish by Princeton Data Source from June 19-22, 2014. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

About Bankrate, Inc.

Bankrate is a leading publisher, aggregator, and distributor of personal finance content on the Internet. Bankrate provides consumers with proprietary, fully researched, comprehensive, independent and objective personal finance editorial content across multiple vertical categories including mortgages, deposits, insurance, credit cards, and other categories, such as retirement, automobile loans, and taxes. The Bankrate network includes Bankrate.com, our flagship website, and other owned and operated personal finance websites, including CreditCards.com, Interest.com, Bankaholic.com, Mortgage-calc.com, CreditCardGuide.com, Nationwide Card Services, InsuranceQuotes.com, CarInsuranceQuotes.com, InsureMe, Bankrate.com.cn, CreditCards.ca, NetQuote.com, and CD.com. Bankrate aggregates rate information from over 4,800 institutions on more than 300 financial products. With coverage of nearly 600 local markets in all 50 U.S. states, Bankrate generates over 172,000 distinct rate tables capturing on average over three million pieces of information daily. Bankrate develops and provides web services to over 80 co-branded websites with online partners, including some of the most trusted and frequently visited personal finance sites on the Internet such as Yahoo!, AOL, CNBC, and Bloomberg. In addition, Bankrate licenses editorial content to over 500 newspapers on a daily basis including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Globe.

For more information:

Caroline Farhat
Publicist, Bankrate, Inc.
[email protected]
(917) 368-8638

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SOURCE Bankrate, Inc.